On May 2, the European Council published a cover note attaching an opinion (Opinion) from the European Central Bank (ECB) regarding proposals to delay the application dates of the amended and restated Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR).

Notably, the ECB recommends in its Opinion that for consistency, the deadline for EU member states to transpose MiFID II also should be delayed by one year, in line with proposals to delay the application dates of MiFID II and MiFIR. If implemented, the transposition deadline for EU member states would shift from July 2016 to July 2017. Aside from this, the ECB had no further comments on the proposals in its Opinion.

For further information on the proposals to provide for a one-year extension to the application dates of MiFID II and MiFIR, see the Corporate & Financial Weekly Digest editions of April 15, February 26 and February 12.

A copy of the cover note attaching the ECB’s Opinion can be found here.